Porcelain Reflections
by Ashes and Leaves
Summary: A collection of drabbles and oneshots that delve into the different situations and circumstances that friends, lovers, and even enemies find themselves in. Chapter 2: Holding Out for a Hero (Warning: angst and violence)
1. A Day with the Band

**This is totally an AU. Probably a oneshot. This will probably be a dump for all of my drabbles. Requests/constructive critiques would be greatly appreciated cause I'm trying to break a bad writer's block.**

* * *

If anyone were to ask Lucy how it all started, she would've grinned and pointed them back to the day when her "posse" had been called for an "emergency" meeting.

* * *

"Juvia has news, but you must come quickly to her house. It's life or death!"

Groaning as her best friend's line clicked to static, Lucy sighed and began packing her overnight duffle. Receiving a call this late- 10:00 p.m. to be exact- could only mean that Levy and she would be spending the night at Juvia's.

A quick text to Levy revealed that her bookworm friend had also received their wacky friend's message, and another text back confirmed that they would both be spending the night.

"We'll b there soon"

~Lucy

One text later in the group chat between the three friends and Lucy was slinging the bag over her shoulder, quickly descending the massive stairs, and calling out a hesitant goodbye, which was only returned faintly by a preoccupied male voice which belonged to her father.

* * *

"Juvia…" the blue haired teenager paused for dramatic effect, glancing back and forth between the two other girls seated in a circle with her, "has decided to enter a contest!"

"Seriously," Levy asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose and shooting a skeptical glance over to the blonde beside her, "that's what you called us up this late at night?"

"But its not just any contest," Juvia's eyes had turned almost frantic as she wiggled around in her spot on the floor, trying to convince her friends, "it's for a meeting and backstage passes for Fairytail!"

Shrieks from Juvia rang out simultaneously as groans from her two enlightened friends escaped their sagging bodies. Fairytail was the newest pop garbage band that the consumer world had snatched up and elevated to stardom. Juvia was obsessed with them; however, the rest of the circle payed no mind to the antics of the modern world. Mostly, for the blue haired bookworm, classic rock and the blaring music of the Seventies and Eighties attracted her interest, while the blonde writer was mostly interested in a mix between classic rock and indie alternative. Hate tended to be Levy's approach to the music spewed out by the band, mostly because she had never actually listened to the music, while Lucy took the approach of polite disinterest, preferring not to tell Juvia that the blunette's favorite band's music gave her a massive headache. In fact, the two girls only knew about Fairytail due to Juvia's borderline stalker tendencies towards their guitar player. Exchanging a long, dubious look, the two girls turned back to their third member to find Juvia's puppy dog eyes in full effect.

"Agh, crap!" Levy exclaimed, "You know I can't refuse that, damn you!"

And so, nodding their assent, the two girls began to help Juvia phone and dial to enter more chances to win the raffle drawings. Time passed slowly for the trio Doodling a quick drawing of a snowman, Lucy affectionately titled it 'Plue', after her stuffed animal, who truly wasn't a snowman, but Lucy really didn't know what else to call him. Finishing her final strokes with her pencil, Lucy looked up to see the digital glow of the clock, reminding her it was 3:30 a.m. Geez, she hadn't been aware of the time. A yawn escaped her, and she raised a hand to cover it, lifting her head to glance at her friends.

Lucy stifled a chuckle at the sight of Levy lying face down on the floor, using a book as a pillow, and at Juvia, asleep with the phone still pressed to her ear. Shuffling the stuff littered on the floor, Lucy quickly arranged her friends to a more comfortable position before allowing her eyes to slowly close, drawing her into a deep and blissful sleep.

* * *

It was months before the trio heard anything about their efforts on that night. And when Lucy did hear about it, it was from a screeching Juvia, jumping up and down and hugging her excitedly. It took her approximately three minutes to calm down her ecstatic friend before the blue haired girl screamed out a sentence that made Lucy's heart drop.

"WE WON!"

What. The. Hell?

* * *

"I didn't know that people actually won these contests," Levy hissed at an apologetic Lucy, "I thought it was just publicity to make more fans." Lucy shrugged at her friend, a guilty expression lingering on her face. "But Lev, listen, we have to go with Juvia. If we don't, who will?" Who else could they trust to deal with their best friend's crazy ramblings and spouts of fangirling?

After much cajoling, Lucy finally got a reluctant Levy to agree to go with the other two girls in exchange for a new chapter of Lucy's novel. A novel Lucy currently had writers' block on. She just couldn't seem to manage to get the scenes between her two protagonists to flow. The dragon and the princess managed to frustrate her beyond belief.

"Fine," she acquiesced, "but you better help me 'cause some of the characters need a beating to get into line." The two girls exchanged a laugh and went to inform their friend that, yes, they would accompany her to what she considered the 'most important event in her life.'

* * *

The concert took place a month later; the girls had plenty of time to 'prepare', as Juvia had put it. While Juvia and Levy sat in their VIP seating up front, Lucy excused herself to the restroom. There still was an hour or two left until the show started, and, while Lucy loved her psychotic bestie to bits, she really didn't want to be sitting next to a wiggling Juvia who could only think of meeting her beloved 'Gray-sama'. Juvia had forced the two girls to memorize the names and faces of each of the band members over the past month, as well as subject them to listening to the blaring songs; all so they wouldn't 'embarrass Juvia at the meeting'. Racking her brain to make sure she remembered, she recalled Gray Fullbuster, the guitarist, Loke 'the Lion', the vocalist, Gajeel Redfox, the drummer, and Lyon Vastia, the keyboard player. Not only did she know their names, Lucy also knew the most insignificant facts about them: where they were born, their star signs, their favorite colors, etc. It made Lucy chuckle aloud as she wandered down the hallway, lost in her own thoughts. Eventually refocusing back to where she was heading, Lucy shook her head to clear the fog from her eyes and realized she was in an area with few people, almost empty and appearing as though it were nearing the backstage area.

"Excuse me," a deep voice resonated from behind her, and she quickly whirled around to find a huge hulking blonde man with a jagged scar over his eye towering over her. "Do you have the clearance to be back here, blondie?" Crap, she had only been looking for the restrooms; what had she gotten herself into now? Beginning to quickly stutter out an apology and explanation, Lucy was cowering before the man in front of her. Static seemed to radiate from the man, and she didn't realize she had been backing up until she bumped into a tall, firm body behind her. A hand quickly grabbed hers, and a voice whispering to 'run' dragged her alongside, escaping from her captor, who gave a shout sounding something like 'fire-breath', and Lucy was tugged down halls that seemed to be leading backstage.

* * *

Finally able to catch her breath, Lucy sank against the wall behind her back, breathing heavily and wheezing. Great, just what she needed, her asthma to kick in. But luckily for her, her breathing soon calmed down and she raised her head to see pink hair and a grin smiling down at her. A boy who looked around her age, maybe a year older, nineteen, was staring down at her, smiling nonetheless.

"You a'ight? I know Laxus can be a little scary sometimes but . . ." The boy began rambling as he apologized. Well, at least that's what she thought his garbled, fast paced words meant.

"Hold up," Lucy interrupted the boy's seemingly random jabber, "You mean to say that you know that guy back there?" Cripes, she had only managed to dig herself deeper into the mess she was in, and it appeared that her troubles were only about to increase as she heard the roar of fans distantly, meaning the stadium was filling up and that she would have a hell of a hard time getting back to her seat without being harassed.

"Well, yeah, duh," now this boy was treating her like an imbecile? Lucy soon got flushed in annoyance, but was interrupted by a friendly grin and a "Hi, I'm Natsu. Pyro-technician for Fairytail, and your savior." The pink haired boy had made it clear he was joking through his tone of voice, but that didn't stop Lucy from blowing a chunk of hair out of her face.

"Lucy, charmed I'm sure," Lucy snarked back, earning a grin from the boy, who promptly slung an arm around her shoulders and dragged her further into the backstage area of the stadium.

* * *

By this point, Lucy was sure that Levy must have been freaking out over her location. Juvia not so much because of her fantasies of the band, but at least Levy must be wondering where she was. The girls would never believe her if she told them. Quite frankly, Lucy didn't believe it herself. Allowing the roar of the crowds and a voice chattering in her ear to pull her out of her thoughts, Lucy found herself smiling and nodding as she was led around in a private backstage tour. Well, not so much tour. More like, follow Natsu as he did his tasks before the show. Lucy honestly didn't know why she was still following the boy around. Perhaps it was because Natsu had proven to be very kind and funny, almost like an innocent five year old stuck in an eighteen year old teenager's body.

"Yo, Luigi,"

"It's Lucy, for the tenth time,"

"Yeah, whatever, Luigi, can you come help me out here."

"Ahm . . . sure? But am I allowe-"

"Psh yeah, duh, it's my equipment so I can tell who to touch it."

Lucy nodded warily and eyed the wires in her arms. Based on what Natsu had explained to her earlier, all they had to do was to connect all of these in the right places, then the show's "pyro-stuff" would be all set. Lucy briefly wondered how she had gotten to this position. Every time she had tried to excuse herself, Natsu had shrugged her worries off, slung his arms around her shoulders, and carted her off to his next chore with a flash of a grin.

Backstage was a jungle. There were wires hanging everywhere and lights muted to wash the backstage area to a nonintrusive blue light, which was definitely better on the eyes than the harsh bright lights of the backstage hallways. Stumbling around after Natsu and trying not to let the equipment in her arms fall, Lucy gazed around in wide-eyed wonder. The pair of teenagers made idle conversations, and soon enough, Lucy felt comfortable enough around the sharp-toothed boy to make a few retorts and jokes of her own.

As the pair strolled down the hallways and passages backstage, Lucy almost forgot she was backstage at the hottest concert of the year until she ran head first into another chest. (Wow, was it just her, or did this seem to be a reoccurring theme of the evening?) Nervously peeking up, Lucy gulped when she saw the orange hair and trademark glasses. Juvia's training had prepared her well enough to know she was in the lead singer's face. Crap.

* * *

After many apologies from Lucy and many corny pickup lines from Loke, Lucy was finally saved as an arm steered her away from the suave singer.

"I gotcha, Luce," a grin flashed and Lucy began to laugh as they ran together down the hallway as Loke called out behind them. Natsu looked back once they had reached the main stage area and flashed her another grin; Lucy was just happy he had gotten her name correct, and found that her cheeks heated up at the smile tossed her way.

"My friends, they'll be, uh, waiting for me down in the VIP section, I should go, so I don't worry them that is, and…" the blonde girl felt a hand clamp down on her mouth, effectively cutting her off, and then felt Natsu's breath tickling her ear as he told her she could just watch from backstage.

"Really?"

* * *

"Yo," a deep voice resonated from the room Natsu had just tugged her into, and then into which he had promptly disappeared into the back room. A head popped out, belonging to the voice. "Could you pass me my clothing over there?" Noticing the boxers on top of the pile, Lucy flushed bright red and shoved the fabric towards the voice, averting her eyes to avoid the male before her.

"If I find you harassing Luce, Stripper," the call from Natsu echoed from the back, earning a scoff from the deeper voice.

"As if, Flamebrain." With those words, a man stepped out of the bathroom wearing pants. Only pants. The embarrassed blush on Lucy's face only grew deeper as she realized exactly who was in front of her.

"Yo, moron, have you seen my guitar?"

"Check by Erza's clipboard, assbutt."

With those comments exchanged, Gray Fullbuster nodded and grabbed the icy blue guitar that was leaning up against the wall. Once he had checked over the light blue instrument, he stared back at the blonde girl before him and raised an eyebrow. Quickly explaining her situation to the man, Lucy rambled on in an attempt to make the idol before her understand that the whole incident was caused by her trying to find the restrooms. Perhaps she wasn't a fan of the band's music, but it was still pretty intimidating when a shirtless, attractive, famous celebrity was staring her down. It was funny; Juvia would kill her if she knew where her blonde friend currently was.

"Stop scaring the snot out of her, Icicle Breath," finally Natsu came out of the back room, a taller redheaded woman following him.

"Forgive my comrades," the woman all but yelled, extending a stiff hand for a handshake.

* * *

The concert passed by smoothly, Lucy watching from backstage after informing Levy about the situation. Both girls had decided it would be better for Juvia not to know until the blunette herself got to meet the band. Natsu and she had sat on top of a giant speaker as the concert went on, and the pair spent the time laughing and just casually hanging out, as though they didn't have the best front row seats to the biggest concert in Fiore.

Meeting the band, for the second time in Lucy's case, had gone well for the trio of best friends. Levy had surprisingly clicked with the freakishly tall and punk rocker drummer, Gajeel. Apparently, the two had bonded over rock music? Go figure. Lucy was sure there was irony somewhere in that statement as she watched the couple of polar opposites converse: Levy with her usual excitement, and Gajeel mutteringone-word responses or sarcastic comments in retort. Lucy had done her best to avoid Loke, while surprisingly; Juvia had become caught between Lyon and Gray. Well, to be more exact, Lyon's obsession with her, and her obsession with Gray. All in all, the day had turned out surprisingly well, the band and the girls getting along and getting personal and friendly. Or so Lucy thought.

* * *

"JUVIA WILL MURDER YOU, LOVE RIVAL." Somehow, Juvia had found out about her earlier incident with Gray, and now Lucy and Natsu were running away from the crazed woman, Natsu laughing and Lucy panicking. Finally, Natsu tugged Lucy into a closet in the side hallway. They were safe. From Juvia, that is. Lucy wasn't safe from the heat rising to her face as she realized that she was an inch away from the pinkette's lips. Her gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips, and before she realized it, those same lips were approaching hers quickly.

A spark accompanied the connection of their lips, and though it was tender and sweet, both Natsu and Lucy relaxed into the embrace shared between them.

"Yo, Luce, you better keep in touch alright? We can definitely make this work."

With a glance at the grin that was centimeters from her face, Lucy couldn't help but nod, grinning and blessing that Mira (Jane? Jem?) lady from the radio station that had set this silly contest up. Pressing their lips together briefly, the couple had a few seconds of silence before a loud shout rang out.

"GET OUT HERE, LOVE RIVAL"

All was well in Lucy's world.

* * *

**So… Yup. Did you like it? Hate it? Meh it? Whatever it was, please let me know in the comments section. It would really brighten my day :)**

**Also, if you have any requests or prompts for any sorts of drabbles, AU, canon, ships etc. please let me know. I need the **


	2. Holding Out for a Hero

**NEXT ONE**

**WARNINGS: Major Angst, Character whump!, Graphic Violence **

Time seemed to slow down for the girl as her eyes widened in disbelief. It was almost as though through a hazy trance that the mage felt her body stiffening up before collapsing inwards on herself. A cough escaped her, and she lifted a hand to see that blood had appeared like scarlet gems, shining in her palm. Scarlet, like the fiery color of her teammate's hair. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Nothing was supposed to go wrong, or at least not this wrong. It had been a simple mission, extract the artifact and go, well, it had been a simple mission until the heavily fortified dark guild had shown up.

Looking down at the dagger stuck in her side, the blonde stumbled back a few feet, barely paying attention to the battle raging around her. She made a quick decision to keep the dagger in. For the moment, it was keeping the blood in, and if she pulled it out now, she would most likely die of blood loss rather than because of the actual wound.

Hell, Lucy was surprised she was still thinking logically. She, quite literally, had a dagger embedded in her torso, for Mavis's sake. Yet, she also knew that her mind was remaining unattached from her body as the adrenaline flowed through it, refusing to give into the sheer panic that had begun to override her systems, overriding her current pain. But that didn't last for long, and she collapsed to her knees coughing, whip and keys falling from her hands, as streaks of red smeared the green grass below her. A whimper of pain escaped her lips; a prayer to the person who had always looked out for her, had always watched her back, and had always saved her.

"Natsu!"

The cry rang out, cut short by her shuddering gasps of pain, her body curling into herself. The Celestial Mage vaguely registered roaring and the sounds of screams before her, and raised her head painfully to look around.

"Lucy?" A tentative voice asked.

"Lucy!" The voice grew more demanding.

"LUCY!" The voice was panicking now; she didn't want it to panic.

"Don't. . . Stop s-sounding so s-sad," she slurred, raising a hand to brush her blonde hair out of her eyes. Pink was all she could see as arms enveloped her, brushing her hair back and clasping her shaking form to a warm chest.

"Lucy- Oh- Oh Mavis, Lucy," was all the voice could manage to choke out, the distraught tone evident through the tremor in his voice. Opening her mouth to offer words of reassurance and a smile, the blonde was caught off guard by a coughing fit that ended with her hand being covered in blood. It seemed the metallic liquid had filled her mouth, lining her lips and making it hard to swallow.

"Lucy, shh, shh, don't talk, wait for Wendy, you'll be fine. You have to be fine. Okay? Promise me."

The voice was demanding, urgent, and Lucy couldn't help but giggle and nod her head, cut off by her body seizing up as she had a second coughing fit.

"WENDY!"

Her warm, bloody chest was pressed against her partner's, which was currently shaking and holding back the wracking sobs threatening to overtake him. He had to remain strong, for her, at least until help arrived.

"It'll be okay, Luce," his lips brushed over her temple, attempting to reassure both of them about the near future. A future that Lucy just had to be in, otherwise Natsu was sure he would burn everything and everyone that ever tried to take her away.

"WENDY!"

Another desperate cry rang out, and Natsu held one of the most important people in his life close to his chest, feeling her blood and soul slowly trickle out from the wound left by the knife in her side. How could he have let this happen?

Reaching down to rest his forehead against hers, he murmured an apology, muttering the same two words over and over until he was stopped by a hand on his face, wiping away the tears he didn't know he had been shedding.

"Hey, smile for me? Please?"

He couldn't ignore her request, just as he couldn't ignore her hand trembling like a leaf on a windy day, but he closed his eyes, composed himself, and grinned widely at her, hoping she wouldn't notice the shakiness of his lips and the unsteadiness in his eyes.

Finally, thank Mavis, a small hand belonging to the other dragon-slayer on the team rested on his back, and he quickly turned his Luce over to the only one who could save her. To him, it seemed as though hours passed while the blue haired slayer worked on his Celestial Mage, and he clutched onto the keys he had found next to her, knowing she'd want them if she woke up. When. When she woke up. At long last, Wendy finally grinned over at him, and he released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Seeing her brown eyes open and meet his onyx eyes gave the fire mage hope blossoming in his chest, and he knelt beside her and clutched her to him, uncaring of Wendy's protests. He had almost lost her, for good this time. Thank Mavis, **thank Mavis**, she came back to him, like she always did, like he would continue to ensure she always would.

"Never leave my side again."

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